Last month, two of our Europe Region Volunteers represented us at the Council of Members of the European Youth Forum. Olivia Solman from Sweden and Pippa Gardner from the UK headed to Brussels for the event.

As part of the European Youth Forum, the Council of Members meets twice a year to define the policies, vision and direction of the forum. It is a space for exchange, cooperation and network amongst the different member organisations of the Youth Forum. As delegates, Olivia and Pippa attended the meeting to represent the views of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts across Europe. They brought our expertise on non-formal education, gender and diversity to discussions in Brussels.

The event, which ran from the 12th-13th April, included updates from the secretariat of the Youth Forum on their work over the last six months, discussions around non-formal education, voting on motions addressing climate change and youth representation, elections of new members to the Youth Forum, and elections of members of the Advisory Council of Youth at the Council of Europe.

Pippa Gardner stood as our candidate for the Advisory Council, to replace Alice Barbieri (from Italy) who currently represents us there. The body works with governmental representatives in a co-management structure to set the direction and work of the youth department of the Council of Europe. They are a key supporter of WAGGGS Europe Region and, in turn, we bring our expertise on gender, diversity and non-formal education to their decision-making processes. Our campaign reached many people, sharing WAGGGS messages, though didn’t lead to Pippa achieving a seat on the Advisory. However, we will continue to take an active role in Council of Europe events and processes wherever possible.

Other sessions allowed us to input into the ongoing process of developing the European Youth Forum’s next strategy, as well as hearing from candidates for the European Parliament elections and a candidate for the role of Secretary General of the Council of Europe.